Miami Condo Mondays™ is a live podcast hosted by Peter Zalewski of the Miami Condo Investing Club™ and veteran broker Jenny Huertas of CVRRealty.com providing an in-depth look at the latest residential real estate trends in South Florida.
Recorded weekly in Greater Downtown Miami, the podcast offers a one-hour discussion on various real estate topics, including preconstruction condos, market trends and investment strategies.
The hosts share their expertise, with Zalewski focusing on macro perspectives and Huertas offering micro insights from her on-the-ground experience.
Tune in every Monday at 4 PM (EST) on the social media accounts of Peter Zalewski and Jenny Huertas for insights on the latest trends in the South Florida condo market.
In this episode of the Miami Condo Mondays™ podcast, Zalewski and Huertas discuss a new report - “Benchmark 2025 Highrise Edition” from the property management firm FirstService Residential - that shows the average maintenance fee for a high-rise condominium in Miami is $1.15 per square foot per month, according to a new report.
The report - which analyzes data exclusively from properties managed by the company - provides a new baseline for what condo owners are paying in a market defined by rising insurance costs and new safety legislation.
For comparison, the report found the average highrise maintenance fee in the Fort Lauderdale - Palm Beach market - covering Broward and Palm Beach counties - is $1.02 per square foot monthly.
In the Tampa - St. Petersburg area, the average highrise maintenance fee is significantly lower, coming in at $0.86 per square foot per month, according to the report.
Zalewski noted that these fees, which cover everything from common area insurance and property taxes to utilities, security and amenities, are a critical and often overlooked factor for investors.
The hosts agreed that the primary driver for recent, dramatic fee hikes is the new state legislation passed following the June 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside on the barrier island in Miami-Dade County.
This legislation introduced two mandatory requirements for condo associations: a Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) to be conducted every 10 years, and a Milestone Inspection Report at a building’s 30-year mark based on the certificate of occupancy.
Zalewski likened the SIRS to a regular doctor’s checkup, while describing the more invasive Milestone Inspection as a “colonoscopy,” of sorts, for a condo building.
This marks a significant change, as all Florida condo associations must now complete mandatory inspections and collect reserves to pay for fixes. Critically, the new laws no longer permit condo boards to defer necessary maintenance.
Huertas noted that condo associations had been able to keep maintenance fees artificially low by waiving reserves. She estimates this change alone has contributed to the rapid rise in monthly maintenance fees during the last five years.
Zalewski argued that this new reality makes a building’s age more important than its location, a complete reversal of the traditional “location, location, location” real estate mantra.
Huertas provided real-world examples from Miami, noting that a unit in Marina Blue that cost 70 cents per square foot in 2021 is now $1.07 per square foot.
She highlighted the wide range of fees, citing a midrise in Aventura at an affordable 65 cents per square foot, while a unit at the luxury Paramount in Miami Worldcenter commands about $1.76 per square foot.
The report’s breakdown of Miami’s $1.15 average fee shows that insurance accounts for 20 percent of the total cost, while reserves account for 12 percent and operations make up 41 percent.
In Broward and Palm Beach counties, insurance consumes a larger 25 percent of the fee, with reserves also slightly higher at 14 percent. The hosts speculated this is due to a higher concentration of Vintage buildings that are at least 30 years old.